Avicii performed at Cornell last night—and it was, apparently, crazy. (Six hospitalizations! Drugs!) So crazy, in fact, that members of a certain Cornell sorority—or, quite possibly, a rival house—used spray paint to vandalize the exterior of Cornell’s Schwartz Center with the letters of Cornell’s Delta Delta Delta sorority. A tipster noticed the fairly extensive carnage and sent us the photos below.

Know more? Email us: tips@ivygateblog.com

UPDATE: in an email to IvyGate the President of Delta Delta Delta says her sorority believes one of its members is responsibile for the vandalism:

Ivy Gate,

We first noticed the graffiti on the Schwartz Center sometime Saturday morning, so it was unrelated to Avicii as Ivy Gate reported. I was home for a family event so I had not seen the graffiti myself.

I suspected it was one of our own sisters as opposed to a “rival” organization based on what I know about the climate on campus and within the greek system. At this time we suspect that the “artist(s)” were internal.

Tri-Delta does not condone this type of disrespect to our university. We are deeply embarrassed by the defaced walls of the Schwartz Center, where many of our members perform and work. Tri-Delta is prepared to pay for any and all costs that are associated with the removal of the graffiti.

I have been in contact with the facilities manager of the Schwartz Center apologizing for the graffiti and offering our financial reparation.

Sincerely,
Morgan Bookheimer

Ah, Harvard University. The very mention of its name fills you with warm, fuzzy feelings of inclusiveness, openness and community. Then every so often someone comes along and ruins the spirit of things by being all exclusive about whom they’ll hang out with. This usually never happens at Harvard!

The Crimson staff noted in a recent editorial that these scoundrels currently take the form of fraternities and sororities, who apparently discriminate among students. And it laments that Harvard’s “paternalistic” drinking policies are pushing more and more students to off-campus parties thrown by these abominable Greek organizations:

Greek organizations rely not only on gender division, but also on arbitrary exclusivity. As organizations that will turn away guests because of their gender or appearance, these are hardly an appropriate solution to the perennial problem of social space on campus. Additionally, one of our greatest assets as a college is our strong campus culture, and the regular fractionation of Harvard students to off-campus venues will negatively impact campus unity.

The staff pleads with their readers to see the madness of university policies that allow these dreaded groups to plow through Harvard’s social scene and leave shambles of unity in their wake. If only all organizations could be as open and welcoming as the Crimson.  Read the rest of this entry »

*Sigh* … It appears that the metaphorical well of news has dried up. Where are all the juicy, delicious stories that we have come to expect from the Ivy League? Oh well … I guess I’ll just post this 11-day-old clip of Jimmy Fallon making fun of the Cornell Class of 1931 and call it a day.

Wait … What’s that? A Columbia University sorority girl wrote a week-long account of her sexual exploits for New York Magazine?

Don’t mind if I do!

That’s right, folks. The great people at Bwog have concluded, thanks to several tipsters and Columbia references throughout the sex diary, that last week’s anonymous New York Magazine sex star is, indeed, a Columbia student. But enough with the introductory paragraphs … Let’s get straight to the highlights, shall we?

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK …

Read the rest of this entry »

Sorority girls have it all – elevated campus social status, snazzy Greek-lettered tote bags, and those neon pink hats that say “FRAT” on them. Man, those hats are cool.

Yet it appears that wasn’t enough for the Cornell girls of Triangle Triangle Triangle. Here’s a recent email that IvyGate received from an anonymous tipster:

The Royal Palm Tavern (a bar frequented by Cornell students) is known for its painted ceiling tiles, some of which date back to the 50s.  The bar auctions off ceiling tiles for charity every year, but throughout this year people have been stealing tiles (yes – stealing tiles that were auctioned off for CHARITY).  The night before graduation, several members of Cornell’s Tri-Delt chapter came into the bar with their parents and tried to hang a tile they had stolen and painted over.  They were confronted by an employee … It was a big scene.

Prominent Collegetown socialites know that The Palms is a crap-hole that is basically falling apart, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that students could easily pluck tiles from the ceiling and walk out. Perhaps before I left Cornell I should have ripped out one of the picnic tables from The Palms’ wooden floor and taken it home as a souvenir.

Anyway, stay tuned for continuing coverage of Tilegate 2011 throughout the summer, and if you have any gossip that you’d like to share, hit us up at IvyGateSummer2011@gmail.com.

******************************************************************

UPDATE: We’ve received the following email from a member of Tri-Delt:

First, I would like to clarify what actually occurred.  This past year (I am not sure whether it has happened in years before) many students were taking The Palms’ tiles from the ceiling.  It was not well known among the students that the tiles were for charity — I don’t know of anyone who knew that until we tried to return ours and were informed by an employee.  It had become a “thing” to do during the year, and many seniors we knew had done it.  The impression that I had was that The Palms knew students did this and went along with it (which is why the tiles were painted and displayed).  What we had heard was that if you could get a tile out of the ceiling, you could then paint it and return it.  We were apparently wrong, and so were several other groups that never returned their tiles after we were confronted because they were afraid to.

Once we learned that the tiles were for charity, we immediately felt horrible.  To rectify our mistake, the first business day after the event, we took an apology note and a check for a charitable donation to pay for the tile to the owner of The Palms.  It was an innocent mistake with no malicious intent on our part (we had even signed the tile and were returning it in person — we clearly were not trying to hide anything), and a mistake that we rectified as soon as we knew the real purpose behind the painted tiles.  I hope you will understand that this is something we did not intend and will help us in not continuing to spread the story.

Boredatbaker gave sketchy testimony… We investigated, and now have multi-source confirmation: the beleaguered Dartmouth greek system is probably in a world of trouble. What we know for sure is that executives of six Greek houses have met with police regarding underage alcohol provision and also, allegedly, the recent SAE DartCoke scandal. Now, the popo are flexing their legal muscles, preparing to press charges. The busted bros and gals?

Fraternities: Alpha Chi Alpha, Chi Gamma Epsilon, Phi Delta Alpha, and Alpha Delta.

Sororities: Epsilon Kappa Theta and Sigma Delta.

UPDATE: The Tabard, a coed house, is also under investigation.

While reports vary, it’s clear that at least a few of the houses, if not all, will be charged Monday with serving alcohol to minors. Some houses have, according to one source, taken precautions and cut back, checking IDs at the door, but others just “couldn’t give a shit.” Cavalier indeed.

Just when we thought the Dartmouth party scene was out of the woods and that anti-frat manifestos were unnecessary, the Hanover Police get all blustery once again, and the specter of intense bakerboredom looms… Apparently, if these charges stick, the houses will be hit with a smattering of pricey fines, perhaps closing houses and driving drinking underground. Well, if so, thanks for the memories and the lolz, Dartmouth greeks. And also the coke.

Personally, we don’t understand how a school with vomit-parties (“Convention,” look for our coverage soon) and an almost-exclusively frat-based social scene can possibly weather these kneejerk Hanover Police, not to mention the crunchy, anti-bro opposition. While distinctively unfratty schools like Yale and Columbia enjoy police more likely to do a shot with you than shut you in the slammer, the Ivy League’s few Grecophiles get busted for open containers at best. Well, and also the coke. Still, seems counterintuitive… We’ll let you know as the story develops.

LOL, ZOMG, ROFLMAO, et al! We frat-hating, irony-worshipping hipsters here at IvyGate HQ totez hate Greek Life SO much: even more than fun, hazing, and sincerity! OBVI we’re only reporting this def-insignificant news because of our wicked personal vendettaz and insecuritiez.

That said, humor us, because we have a slight inkling that quite a few normal, down-to-earth, fun-loving Cornellians are going to be sad to hear that not one, but two of their frats may soon be shut down. In the wake of our recent announcement of embattled Pike’s closure, we now have exclusive news from a source close to the situation that the Alpha-Kappa chapter of Kappa Sigma (that’s more of a mouthful than dogfood and tabasco!) will be losing its charter this year. According to our tipster,

The national organization has decided to revoke the chapter’s charter after hospitalization incidents during rush week, inappropriate pictures surfaced on Facebook, and a rogue fog machine set of a fire alarm at a pledge party.

This sort of sucks: especially since it’s not ADPhi. Jokes. In all seriousness, the besieged frats at Cornell, for all their foibles, have been on the receiving end of a disproportionate amount of administration crackdown, especially since — as a frat tipster notes — “on occasion, we do good things.”

Ithaca is cold and gloomy; frats are warm and, at their best, booze and camaraderie filled. When they do crazy things, we here at IvyGate write about them; but when they get shut down, we take no joy in Cornell’s loss. Godspeed noble bros; godspeed.

Oh good lord… So, a few months back we brought you the twisted tale of Pi Kappa Alpha at Cornell, whose rush-week boozefests left three freshmen hospitalized and the campus in uproar. Next, Cornell’s ADPhi bros bit the bullet on account of our leaked hazing regimen.

Well, as the great karmic wheel turns, IvyGate has received the exclusive final word, via a high-up on-campus source: Pike will be shut down, permanently. Apparently, the Interfraternity Council is holding out on releasing the news. According to the Cornell Daily Sun,

a public announcement on the fate of Pi Kappa Alpha is expected within the next two weeks.

But behind closed doors, the decision has been made… The hazers’ days are numbered.

And, by way of our own role in all this (also from the Sun):

Allegations of hazing at Cornell have garnered widespread media attention this year. Particularly, popular gossip blog Ivygate has prominently featured reports of the allegations, with stories being picked up by popular blogs such as Gawker and The Huffington Post.

We wash our hands of all this (after all, to us, ritual-abuse nonsense is a riot) and apparently, so does Cornell’s Associate Dean of Students Travis Apgar, who stated that:

while the Alpha Delta Phi allegations were first publically disclosed by Ivygate, they were simultaneously reported to the OFSA through hazing.cornell.edu. The Ivygate stories were not the basis of the investigation nor were they consulted as part of it. [IFC President Allen] Miller said that Ivygate was not involved in the investigation, and would not comment on the veracity of its reports.

Let’s just hope this isn’t unintentional paralipsis. As for our favorite quote? From the Associate Dean himself:

Media outlets such as Ivygate sensationalize for the reader.

Whoa, Dean Apgar, are you looking to start something? We’ll tread carefully: we know you’ve got dog-food, tabasco, dodgeballs, naked-laps, and alcohol poisoning at your disposal…

It’s been a busy month for our favorite “literary fraternity” ADPhi. First, they got busted for some slovenly hazing. Then, they blatantly lied about it. Next, everyone from Gawker to HuffPost was reposting the story. Well, a week or so ago the Cornell administration got involved, and the news is dire: Reports out of Cornell tell us that ADPhi has been placed on complete social probation. If found participating in fraternity sponsored social events, the bros run the risk of losing their university recognition and possibly disbarment.

Well, you’ve got to give them credit for bravery. According to an anonymous tipster, ADPhi is still having Hell Week, in secret, for their new pledges this week. No less than three of the pledges have been overheard lamenting. Thin ice, guys… thin ice.

A couple of weeks ago we brought you the exclusive and twisted tale of Cornell “literary fraternity” ADPhi’s hazing travails: nudity, dogfood, ritual abuse, etc. Well, in the days that followed, some considerable crap went down: the story went viral, you feisty commenters went wild (it was Spring Break, after all), and new info and multimedia started streaming in from all sides. We’ve held off on updating, letting the story simmer, but now–with pics and fun galore–we can’t restrain ourselves any longer. Here’s what we’ve heard from our tipsters:

• ADPhi’s pledges were forced to swallow the goldfish that they were asked to bring in the email.
• A text message from one of the pledges: ”Sorry, I can’t make dinner tonight, I’m going to get hazed really hard.”
• The Cornell administration is currently involved, investigating the hazing allegations. (One of our sources is allegedly being “threatened” by ADPhi bros.)
• ADPhi maintains an incredibly sketchy “Goat House” (pictured above), a door and windowless tomb accessible only via tunnel, where the brothers perform their rituals. It’s rumored that a few years back an unsuspecting pledge received third degree burns within its shadowy walls.

Oh, but there’s a lot more. Head on past the jump for more exclusive pics, including funtimes inside the frat and an unfortunate use of a second-floor window.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tomorrow night, Yale’s meatiest and football-iest fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon, will play host to a party that can only be described as a twisted, incongruous chimera: it’s a Sadie Hawkins dance, hosted jointly by DKE (the frattiest of the frats), M O D E R N L O V E (Yale’s Friday-night hipster commune, usually held in high-plaid-quotient basements, and capitalized thusly), and yes, the Yale Women’s Center. Bros, Beirut-fans, bra-burners: together at last. All female DJs; heavy on irony; heavy on kegstands. This is the most beautiful union since Yalta, and about as unlikely as Buzz Aldrin on Dancing with the Stars. And it’s liberating! From the Facebook Event:

———————LADIES:———————
Do you get fed up with Modern Love?
Do you get fed up with sweaty hipster bros grinding up on your donk?
Do you get fed up with sweaty hipster bros spinning sexist jams such as Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin’”?
Have you ever dreamed of pulling the plug out of our speakers and doing things yourself?
THIS FRIDAY, YOU CAN AND WILL
Modern Love, the Yale Women’s Center, and the brothers of Delta Kappa Epsilon are throwing a patriarchy-toppling dance party entitled
♀————-L-A-D-I-E-S-’–N-I-T-E————-♀

Yes, capitalized thusly.

We can only hope that many ironic/athletic-heterozygous offspring will be conceived on DKE’s beer stained floors.